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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Vintage Mystery Challenge 2012 Progress Site

All right, folks--2012 is here! Let the challenge begin! I am setting up this post as the place to track everyone's progress on the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge and also to link reviews, if you review the books you read. There will be two linkys--one for reviews and one for a wrap-up post. If you do not have a blog, please submit a final tally of books read in a comment below. I will accept updates through January 6, 2013.

Please enter your review links below. For Name Display, please use the following format as an example:

62 comments:

Well, I finished my first read of the Vintage Mystery Challenge of this year and it was a clever locked room mystery that gave a nod and a wink to John Dickson Carr, Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle. Corsari's books, ranging from psychological novels to detective stories, were translated in many different languages – so this one might be available to some of you.

Hi Bev, just posted my first one ofthe Challenge LANDSCAPE WITH DEAD DONS - I really loved it, thanks so much it was a splendid gift and a great way to start 2012 - I didn't quite get the linky thing right, but I will next time!

My first challenge entry in the Deadly Decades section is my "pre-1900" entry: Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet," the book that introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world (not to mention Dr. Watson). I've linked the review in the linky section above - please let me know if I did it right!

The images in the linky thingy is a happy suprise! I've just posted my link to my first, Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White", which was super. I might not have read it except for this challenge, so thanks for that! (Deadly Decades, pre-1900's).

My third decade for the Deadly Decades theme is Edgar Wallace's 1917 thriller, "The Secret House." It's sheer fun, with the action moving so fast the reader doesn't have time to realize how far-fetched the story is. Full review at ClassicMysteries.

Week four, and the roaring 20s. This week's entry: "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," by Agatha Christie, first published in 1920. It was her first novel and the first to feature Hercule Poirot. Full review at Classic Mysteries.

For the "Deadly Decade" of the 1940s this week, I offer a review of Elizabeth Daly's "Any Shape or Form." It's a classic puzzle-plot type of mystery and one of Daly's best (she was said to be Agatha Christie's favorite American author). It's #69 above, or at Classic Mysteries.

@Carol: I know! It would have been a much more compact and tidier list if I hadn't mysteriously programmed the thing to ask for a thumbnail picture. I don't know how that happened and I haven't been able to undo it. I figure at this point we'll just have to go with it....I don't want to lose anybody's entry.

My post for the "deadly decade" of the 1950s is Patricia Moyes' "Dead Men Don't Ski," from 1959. The novel introduces the delightful Chief Inspector Henry Tibbett. It takes place at a remote ski lodge at the top of "the longest chair-lift in Europe." Full review at Classic Mysteries".

Les: I don't know what's wrong with it. I tried early on to fix it (before there were so many links and it was easier to know if I lost one and what it was). I never wanted the thumbnail pictures and have no idea why that option got tacked on. I envisioned a much cleaner list. At this point I'm afraid to mess with it--I don't want to lose anybody's review.

For my eighth and last post for the "deadly decades" section, here's a review of Cyril Hare's "Suicide Excepted," a late Golden-Age (1939) mystery. The death of an elderly man is ruled a suicide - but the insurance company won't pay if the death was suicide, so his family sets out to prove it was murder. You'll find a review, with a link to a detailed podcast review, at Classic Mysteries.

Today, I review a detective/thriller from the hands of a writer who earned with his words a nomination for a Nobel Prize. As a matter of fact, this book was his first success as a writer and penned four additional mysteries before moving onto loftier, more sophisticated climes. Oh well...

Here's the full review of Een linkerbeen gezocht (Wanted: A Left Leg, 1935) by Jan de Hartog (writing as "F.R. Eckmar").

Whoops - I have a problem; I reviewed two books in one post, and the link system won't let me report them both (since it detects a duplicate URL.) Oh well -

The Problem of the Green Capsule: several people watched carefully while Marcus Chesney was poisoned. Not one of them interfered, and when the police questioned them later not one of them was quite sure what had just happened!

Nine - and Death Makes Ten: It's dangerous enough crossing the Atlantic during World War II. Your ship might be blown up and sunk at any moment! But on the Edwardic, the handful of passengers also has to worry about a killer whose fingerprints don't match a single person on board.

Just posted two links to reviews (Fer-de-Lance and With a Bare Bodkin). Tried to post a third (An English Murder, also by Cyril Hare), but I reviewed it in the same post as With a Bare Bodkin and it would not take the same link twice. It doesn't matter, I am not doing this for a prize and I may have more than the eight for that category anyway. Just thought I would note that. If I include that mystery in another post somewhere, maybe I will use that link. Glad I am catching up on this challenge, a bit.

Is a closing post required? Could I reiterate the joining post, updated? I try to limit 'biz' on my blog. Well: I'm thrilled to show you my last "Deadly Decades" entries! I ran out of time for more but chose what I think is the toughest and did succeeded! :) Happy new year to all! ~Carolyn~